Sunday, April 7, 2013

Old Casked Rum: The Emperor's New Tools#1 - Towards Constitutional Reform in T&T

So we've had the rounds of consultations on Constitutional Reform?
Are we any wiser?
Do we have a sense of direction that will drive transformation of the governance of T&T?
Do we have a vision for a better framework of governance: made of the people of T&; for the people of T&T; and by the people of T&T?
Or are we merely repackaging old casked mercantilist rum in new bottles as we try to forcefit ourselves in one of two already tottering models of governance - the British Westminster system and the US Presidential model.
Time to rethink our approach for what works best for us.
To begin this probe, let's flash back to an article written in the lead up to the 2010 elections: Have any of these found resolution in the recent rounds of constitutional reform talks; or have they been just that: talk? More in the introduction to Through the Political Glass Ceiling available on Amazon Kindle and local bookshops:

Constitutional Crisis of Leadership

Various analyses tell us that the leadership blunders of the past few decades point to the Trinidad and Tobago's Constitution as the culprit, and there is an indisputable need for constitution reform, given evident flaws in T&T Constitutions past and present.
Both the 1961 (Independence) Constitution and the 1976 (Republic) Constitution were clearly already obsolete from their inception, with their unworkable British import of the first-past-the-post/winner-take-all model and evident failure, as they disenfranchise large numbers of voters, as occurred in the 1981, 2001, 2002 and 2007 general elections.
The alternative, proportional representation, which offers each party numbers of seats in Parliament, according to the proportion of votes they command, has received some attention, but, like first-past-the-post, it upholds a party-based system that gives politicians divine status, and places them at the centre of decision-making, which we have seen, with demands for a bottoms-up approach, itself cannot hold.
The Wooding (1971) and Hyatali (1974) Commissions, set up to explore constitutional reform, proposed another, a mixed system drawing from first-past-the-post and proportional representative models. This has been rejected by the PNM’s Williams and Manning, though all—PNM and the commissions—premised their arguments on our diversity which they defined largely as ethnic diversity.
Manning put forward, in 2006, a “working document” on constitutional reform, drawn up primarily by a one-man commission (former President Ellis Clarke), and after-the-fact staged some public “consultations”—an approach interpreted as paying lip service to public opinion. Executive president? His draft provided for an executive president, as in the USA, which would give even more executive powers to an already maximum leader of the first-past-the-post system, without correcting (but rather further emasculating) those instruments and institutions that provide checks and balances on such “Massa” power.
These include the judiciary and the legislature, and others as the Ombudsman, the Director of Public Prosecution, the Commissioner of Police, the magistracy, Commissions for Integrity, Judicial and Legal Services, Police Service, Public Service, Teaching Service. etc.

It also proposes to restrict the principle of freedom of expression (the media) by altering the Bill of Rights. Another constitution, drafted by the self-assigned 2006 Fairness Committee of four, leaned on a further amalgamation—of the Manning model (though produced before Manning’s) supporting an executive president, along with a mixed system of proportional representation and first-past-the-post, as recommended by the Wooding and Hyatali Commissions.
One challenge after the other to the constitution has surfaced, since the NAR, to show that the constitution is not just dog-eared, but coming apart at the seams and irrelevant in a rapidly-changing world:
1. The PNM’s challenge of Winston “Gypsy” Peters’ dual citizenship;
2. The 2002 18-18 deadlocked elections which were not catered for in the constitution;
3. Other challenges, mainly related to cockfighting, by Panday and Robinson—appointments through the Senate of people who had been defeated in the polls;
4. The chicken-and-egg crisis precipitated by the Standing Order for electing a Speaker before convening the House, when neither party wanted to propose a Speaker.
The constitution of Trinidad and Tobago, as it is, has outlived its usefulness.
To justify his quest for an executive president/US-styled governance system, (Then) PNM leader Patrick Manning has sought to justify his high-handed approach to decision-making with arguments that the extremely diverse nature of the society and their many competing interests made it difficult to govern, and needed “strong” leadership. But at the risk of sounding like a prophetess, the diversity of T&T is, indeed, its primary character, and anyone who cannot manage our diversity is doomed to failure!

Anyone who wants to govern effectively must unite the diversity, rather than seek ever more exclusive power to overrule it; (the consequences of ignoring the public over an extended period have been graphically illustrated by the events of recent weeks).
The constitution—and the Westminster-styled parliamentary system it establishes cannot accommodate that diversity.
The PNM—undeniably the most experienced party in T&T—argue that neither could proportional representation. Both, it seems, are partly in the right; but wholly wrong.

Leadership crisis—single party or coalition

The search for the ideal model has been around the debate of whether the single party or coalition government is the better model. Both have been tried and tested and found wanting. As analyst Dr Bishnu Ragoonath observed, the three occasions when our governments prematurely collapsed have been as single-party governments—Panday’s in 2001 and Manning’s in 1995, and 2010. Majority rule by a maximum leader, with powers equivalent to the divine right of kings, in a single party is losing sway on a population becoming more astute and unwilling to continue as blind, unquestioning, sheep-like followers.

Governance by any one majority ethnic group has become unsavoury to growing and more vociferous elements, demanding recognition of our cultural and other diversity, denied in Williams “No Mother India, no Mother Africa” maxim which seemed not to grasp the complexity of the identity issue.
Nor have coalitions worked either; not two examples, the alliance governments of 1986 and 1991—both of which evolved out of forces opposing the PNM and including Panday’s UNC, Robinson’s Democratic Action Congress, Karl Hudson-Phillips’ Organisation for National Reconstruction, Lloyd Best’s Tapia and various others.

They failed because...

They failed, not because the structure of the coalitions was tested, nor because of challenges of managing our complex diversity—they never got a chance. They failed because—as with the maximum leader mode of single-party politics—managing the diverse egos of a man-rat-driven political culture, continuously tested the constitution and the governance model, promoting the eminence of constitutional lawyers and legal Messiahs. They failed because of unenlightened or misguided leadership that failed to respect the needs and wishes of its people.

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Kris Rampersad joins UNESCO group

Kris Rampersad joins UNESCO group Story Created: Apr 5, 2013 at 10:35 PM ECT Story Updated: Apr 5, 2013 at 10:40 PM ECT Trinidadian author and educator Dr Kris Rampersad is one of six international experts who will serve on the consultative body of the international InterGovernmental Committee on safeguarding intangible cultural heritage of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO). The decision to appoint the experts was made at last December’s meeting of the InterGovernmental Committee in France and Rampersad was elected as Vice-Chair during the committee’s first meeting this week. As a member of this organ, she will participate in scrutinising applications to the UNESCO’s Register of Best Safeguarding Practices, the Urgent Safeguarding List and requests for international assistance in relation to Intangible Cultural Heritage. Rampersad is a UNESCO-trained expert towards helping communities strengthen mechanisms to safeguard their cultural heritage. She has been conducting capacity building exercises in this regard across the Caribbean, including in countries such as Belize, Jamaica, Guyana, St Kitts and Nevis, Trinidad and Tobago and Grenada. Rampersad has been examining and critiquing national and international policy instruments, including UNESCO mechanisms, and devising mechanisms and recommendations for culture-centred development for more than a decade. Rampersad, who is also the Chair of the Trinidad and Tobago National Commission for UNESCO, recently published LiTTscapes–Landscapes of Fiction from Trinidad and Tobago. —CMC http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/Kris-Rampersad-joins-UNESCO-group-201720511.html T&T Author Dr Kris Rampersad on UNESCO international culture body By Caribbeanemag on April 5, 2013 | From caribbeanemagazine.com http://www.zimbio.com/Caribbean+Entertainment+News/articles/JuevBlOChHK/T+T+Author+Dr+Kris+Rampersad+UNESCO+international Author and educator, Dr Kris Rampersad has been invited to serve on the consultative body of the international InterGovernmental Committee on safeguarding intangible cultural heritage of the United Nations Education, Science and Cultural Organisation. Rampersad was also elected to serve as Vice-Chair of the consultative body during its first meeting held in Paris this week She is one of six international experts who will serve on the committee in their individual professional capacity, following the decision which was taken at last December’s meeting of the InterGovernmental Committee in Paris, France. As a consultative member, she will participate in scrutinising applications to the UNESCO’s Register of Best Safeguarding Practices, the Urgent Safeguarding List and requests for international assistance in relation to Intangible Cultural Heritage. Dr Rampersad - an independent media, cultural and literary consultant and facilitator - is a UNESCO-trained expert towards safeguarding cultural heritage and strengthening community and national tangible and intangible culture mechanisms. She has been conducting capacity building exercises in this regard across the Caribbean, including in countries as Belize, Jamaica, Guyana, St Kitts & Nevis, Trinidad and Tobago and Grenada. She has also prepared and trained Caribbean youths, policy makers, decision makers and cultural communities in accessing the provisions of the Conventions towards strengthening mechanism for cultural survival and endurance. She further participated in the intergovernmental meeting on intangible cultural heritage in Bali, Indonesia in December, 2011. Rampersad has been examining and critiquing national and international policy instruments, including UNESCO mechanisms, and devising mechanisms and recommendations for culture-centred development for more than a decade. She has also been engaged by various international and regional agencies to present her perspective and coordinate multisectoral examination of development issues, bringing together policy and decision-makers, academics, private sector, media and civil society on a range of fields including science, technology, communications, agriculture, gender among others. A journalist, and newspaper editor, her research and recommendations are represented in UNESCO publications as well as the Commonwealth Foundation’s Putting Culture First Report; the culture reports of the ACP-EU (Africa, Pacific, Caribbean-European Union), and the International Who’s Who in Culture Policy Research among others. She is the author of the highly acclaimed LiTTscapes – Landscapes of Fiction from Trinidad and Tobago; Through the Political Glass Ceiling, and Finding a Place along with numerous print and new media journals and fora on culture, gender, literature, media and development. Rampersad is the Chair of the Trinidad and Tobago National Commission for UNESCO. Friday, April 5, 2013 T&T AUTHOR DR KRIS RAMPERSAD ON UNESCO INTERNATIONAL CULTURE BODY 9:50 AM Caribbean E-Magazine No comments Author and educator, Dr Kris Rampersad has been invited to serve on the consultative body of the international InterGovernmental Committee on safeguarding intangible cultural heritage of the United Nations Education, Science and Cultural Organisation. Rampersad was also elected to serve as Vice-Chair of the consultative body during its first meeting held in Paris this week She is one of six international experts who will serve on the committee in their individual professional capacity, following the decision which was taken at last December’s meeting of the InterGovernmental Committee in Paris, France. As a consultative member, she will participate in scrutinising applications to the UNESCO’s Register of Best Safeguarding Practices, the Urgent Safeguarding List and requests for international assistance in relation to Intangible Cultural Heritage. Dr Rampersad - an independent media, cultural and literary consultant and facilitator - is a UNESCO-trained expert towards safeguarding cultural heritage and strengthening community and national tangible and intangible culture mechanisms. She has been conducting capacity building exercises in this regard across the Caribbean, including in countries as Belize, Jamaica, Guyana, St Kitts & Nevis, Trinidad and Tobago and Grenada. She has also prepared and trained Caribbean youths, policy makers, decision makers and cultural communities in accessing the provisions of the Conventions towards strengthening mechanism for cultural survival and endurance. She further participated in the intergovernmental meeting on intangible cultural heritage in Bali, Indonesia in December, 2011. Rampersad has been examining and critiquing national and international policy instruments, including UNESCO mechanisms, and devising mechanisms and recommendations for culture-centred development for more than a decade. She has also been engaged by various international and regional agencies to present her perspective and coordinate multisectoral examination of development issues, bringing together policy and decision-makers, academics, private sector, media and civil society on a range of fields including science, technology, communications, agriculture, gender among others. A journalist, and newspaper editor, her research and recommendations are represented in UNESCO publications as well as the Commonwealth Foundation’s Putting Culture First Report; the culture reports of the ACP-EU (Africa, Pacific, Caribbean-European Union), and the International Who’s Who in Culture Policy Research among others. She is the author of the highly acclaimed LiTTscapes – Landscapes of Fiction from Trinidad and Tobago; Through the Political Glass Ceiling, and Finding a Place along with numerous print and new media journals and fora on culture, gender, literature, media and development. Rampersad is the Chair of the Trinidad and Tobago National Commission for UNESCO. http://www.caribbeanemagazine.com/2013/04/t-author-dr-kris-rampersad-on-unesco.html Trinidadian Named To UNESCO Group Published: Friday April 5, 2013 | 4:05 pm0 Comments PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – Trinidadian author and educator, Dr Kris Rampersad is one of six international experts who will serve on the consultative body of the international Intern Governmental Committee on safeguarding intangible cultural heritage of the United Nations Education, Science and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The decision to appoint the experts was made at last December’s meeting of the InterGovernmental Committee in France and Rampersad was elected as Vice-Chair during the committee’s first meeting this week. As a member of this organ, she will participate in scrutinising applications to the UNESCO’s Register of Best Safeguarding Practices, the Urgent Safeguarding List and requests for international assistance in relation to Intangible Cultural Heritage. Rampersad is a UNESCO-trained expert towards helping communities strengthen mechanisms to safeguard their cultural heritage. She has been conducting capacity building exercises in this regard across the Caribbean, including in countries as Belize, Jamaica, Guyana, St Kitts and Nevis, Trinidad and Tobago and Grenada. Rampersad has been examining and critiquing national and international policy instruments, including UNESCO mechanisms, and devising mechanisms and recommendations for culture-centred development for more than a decade. Rampersad, who is also the Chair of the Trinidad and Tobago National Commission for UNESCO, has recently published “LiTTscapes – Landscapes of Fiction from Trinidad and Tobago”. http://jamaica-gleaner.com/extra/article.php?id=2297

Media Complaints Council still in business

Media Complaints Council still in business Published: Wednesday, March 27, 2013 Yvonne Baboolal http://guardian.co.tt/news/2013-03-27/media-complaints-council%E2%80%88still-business Text Size: The Media Complaints Council (MCC), formed 16 years ago, had almost died, but was resurrected a few months ago. The passing of an important person on the council contributed to the temporary demise of the MCC the T&T Guardian was told. Also, the MCC had been working on a broadcasters’ code, still in the draft stages. Asked if the MCC has been resurrected, Kiran Maharaj, president of the T&T Publishers and Broadcasters Association (TTPBA), said: “A few months now.” She added, however, it was never really out of the loop. The MCC came into being in 1997 after the TTPBA, now comprising five television stations and 22 radio stations, saw the need for a code of ethics to regulate the media industry. Its chairman, attorney Patricia Dindial, said over the last two weeks more complaints than before have been made against the media to the MCC. Complainants can call or write. A Web site is in the making and is almost finished. The MCC is working on four cases right now, two against the print media and two against radio stations, Dindial said yesterday. Sport Minister Anil Roberts was not one of the complainants, she said. Roberts has complained about an article in the T&T Guardian which he said was untrue, and threatened legal action. The TTPBA, in a recent media release, stating it recognised the issue at hand, said there were other avenues available to the public in treating with inaccuracy in reporting. One of those avenues is the MCC, the TTPBA said. Dindial said complaints of “inappropriate language” had been made against the radio stations. Trying to figure out what was causing the increase in complaints, she surmised: “Maybe media houses are getting bolder.” And they were getting bolder because Trinis, being what they were, were reluctant to complain, she said. “We have to make it easier for people to complain. That’s why the MCC is using telephone lines,” Dindial said. The current members of the MCC are Patricia Dindial (chairman), Robert Henry (vice chairman), Haran Ramkaransingh (secretary), Dr Kris Rampersad, Joel Nanton and Bro Harrypersad Maharaj. The MCC can be reached at 794-7416. What the Media Complaints Council does The MCC’s mission statement is: “to help maintain public trust and confidence in the news media by promoting fairness, courtesy and balance and by creating a forum where the public and the news media can engage each other in examining standards of journalistic fairness.” It also provides an opportunity to hold the media accountable without going to court. The MCC was established in 1997 after the government produced a green paper on the media. In 2004, the TTPBA and the Media Association (MATT) came up with an industry code of ethics which states a journalist must ensure the credibility of a story as far as possible. The MCC is charged with enforcing this code. It cannot impose fines.

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Antigua and Barbuda hosts Caribbean Training Course in the Preparation of Nomination Dossiers 2012-2013 (Follow-up)

UNESCO World Heritage Centre - Caribbean Training Course in the Preparation of Nomination Dossiers 2012-2013 (Follow-up)

Caribbean Training Course in the Preparation of Nomination Dossiers 2012-2013 (Follow-up)

The World Heritage Centre, the UNESCO Offices in Kingston and Havana in collaboration with the Antigua & Barbuda National Commission for UNESCO will organize the Caribbean Training Course in the Preparation of Nomination Dossiers, which will be held in St. Mary’s (Antigua & Barbuda) from 24 to 28 March 2013 within the framework of the Japanese Funds-in-Trust project "Capacity Building to Support the Conservation of World Heritage Sites and Enhance Sustainable Development of Local Communities in Small Island Developing States (SIDS)".

The objective of this 5-day training course is to strengthen professional capacities in the Caribbean Small Island Developing States (SIDS) in preparing nomination dossiers and increase the number and quality of nominations of cultural and natural heritage sites, with a focus on sites of memory in the Caribbean.

This training course is the follow up to the June 2012 training held in Kingston Jamaica and is geared at assessing draft nomination dossiers that each country participant has been in the process of developing over the last eight months. After this training, participants are expected to finalize the nomination dossiers for submission to UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Some 17 Caribbean countries will take part in the training.

Contact at UNESCO Kingston: Himalchuli Gurung h.gurung@unesco.org

Documents

Concept Note
Kingston Action Plan
Training Course Programmed Barbuda hosts

Regions

Latin America and the Caribbean

Activities

Partners

Japanese Trust Fund for the Preservation of the World Cultural Heritage

Events

Caribbean Training Course in the Preparation of Nomination Dossiers 2012-2013 Jun 5, 2012 - Jun 15, 2012

Monday, March 25, 2013

Caribbean meet to prepare heritage dossiers

Portal de la Cultura de América Latina y el Caribe

Building Capacities on World Heritage across Caribbean Small Islands


	20 March 2013/ UNESCO Havana/Portal of Culture of Latin America and the Caribbean The workshop Management of Caribbean cultural resources in a natural environment: Sites of Memory and participation of local communities, trained 20 participants from Barbados, Curaçao, Grenada, Jamaica and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines to foster the best involvement of local communities in World Heritage. Released near the Historic Bridgetown and its Garrison, World Heritage site in Barbados from 11 to 15 March 2013, the workshop contributed to enhance mechanisms for the participation of local communities in Heritage sites, implementing also an agreement reached in June 2011 on the Caribbean Capacity Building Programme (CCBP), for World Heritage, between the University of the West Indies and UNESCO. The workshop is part of a series organized by UNESCO Offices in Havana and Kingston and UNESCO's World Heritage Centre, counting with the support of the Netherlands Funds in Trust, and being delivered in coordination with the Barbados National Commission for UNESCO and The University of the West Indies (UWI), Cave Hill Campus. Thanks to the contribution of representatives of the States Parties present at the workshop, 5 cases studies, currently in the tentative list and in progress as nominations dossiers were discussed by the participants. As a referential case it was considered the proposal for the Blue and John Crow Mountains National Park BJCMNP (Jamaica) promoting a cross cutting debate with the collaboration of experts representing IUCN and ICOMOS. Participants also explored Caribbean connections with the University of the Netherlands Antilles and other heritage related organizations and appraised several examples during a field trip session. From 24 to 28 March, also organized by Havana and Kingston field offices and UNESCO's World Heritage Centre, now under Japan Funds in Trust, another training is to conclude the final segment of the Caribbean Training Course in the Preparation of Nomination Dossiers for World Heritage (started in Kingston last June 2012). The final segment will be developed in St. Mary’s, Antigua & Barbuda analyzing the nomination proposals of 16 Caribbean sites. Specialists from IUCN, ICOMOS and from the UNESCO World Heritage Centre will also participate for the appraisal in situ of the advances in progress for the nomination of The Antigua Naval Dockyard to the World Heritage List. Associated documents: • Concept note for workshop in Barbados • Concept note for workshop in Antigua & Barbuda • Press release for workshop in Antigua & Barbuda For more information about these activities: Himalchuli Gurung, Culture Specialist, UNESCO Kingston h.gurung@unesco.org Victor Marin, CCBP Coordinator, at UNESCO Havana, Regional Office for Culture in Latin America and the Caribbean,v.marin@unesco.org.cu See more on CCBP at: http://www.unesco.lacult.org/proyectos/showitem.php?lg=2&id=27 and also athttp://whc.unesco.org/en/activities/475/

Thursday, March 21, 2013

Antigua LiTTribute a gathering storm ObserverRadio Intvs Kris Rampersad...listen

Interest and enthusiasm in the LiTTribute to the Antilles and showcasing of LiTTscapes - Landscapes of Fiction from Trinidad and Tobago by Kris Rampersad perks with interview with Observer Radio on Thursday. More artistes and creators are on board to form part of the event...stay tuned and listen to the inteview with Antigua Radio's Marcella Andre Gorge here ..... https://sites.google.com/site/krisrampersadglobal/home/about-me/blogs-news/_draft_post-7#

Monday, March 18, 2013

T&T author, Antigua icons in LiTTribute to Antilles

In the News....

T&T Author, Antigua Icons In Littribute To Antilles http://news.caribseek.com/index.php/caribbean-islands-news/antigua-and-barbuda-news/item/41548-tt-author-antigua-icons-in-littribute-to-antilles

Dr. Kris Rampersad

Monday, Mar 18th, 2013 02:41 UTC | Comment Article

PrinteMail

T&T Author, Antigua Icons In Littribute To Antilles

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad and Tobago -- Trinidad and Tobago’s Dr Kris Rampersad, author of LiTTscapes - Landscapes of Fiction from Trinidad and Tobago will team up with icons of Antigua and Barbuda to stage a literary tribute to the Antilles this Saturday at the museum in St John’s, Antigua.

Dr Rampersad, whose book, LiTTscapes, was launched as part of the golden jubilee celebrations of Trinidad and Tobago last August, has undertaken a series of tributes called LiTTributes to highlight the contributions and value of the creative sectors of the Caribbean.

LiTTscapes has been described as a groundbreaking encyclopaedic yet coffee-table style compendium of the lifestyles, landscapes, architecture, cultures, festivals and institutions of the Caribbean and quintessential to the Caribbean diversification agenda as a means of promoting sustainable development through the creative sector in its presentation of history, politics, cultures and lifestyles, by reviewers as head of the Guyana Prize for Literature and deputy vice chancellor of the University of Guyana, Professor Al Creighton; Poet Laureate of Port of Spain, Pearl Eintou Springer; former principal and pro vice-chancellor of the University of the West Indies, Dr Bhoe Tewarie and former First Lady of Trinidad and Tobago Dr Jean Ramjohn Richards, among others.

Said Creighton: “Easy to read, LiTTscapes is a work of art, a documentary, a travelogue, a critical work with visual and literary power. It is a quite thorough artistic concept, a portrait and biography of the nation of Trinidad and is attractively, neatly and effectively designed. It reflects a considerable volume of reading, ranging from the dawn of Caribbean literature (as early writings of Walter Raleigh, through to present including Nobel laureates Derek Walcott and Sir Vidia Naipaul). Whatever one says no one book can do, this one almost does.”

Rampersad explained: “The literary tributes, called LiTTributes, celebrate the creative synergies between fiction, the built and natural landscapes and the creative energies of writers, musicians, dramatists, artists, architects and other creators.” She noted that the launch of LiTTscapes was followed by the LiTTribute to the Republic in Trinidad and Tobago in September 2012 and LiTTribute II - LiTTurgy to the Mainland in Guyana in February 2013.

“The Antiguan event is being called LiTTribute to the Antilles and will include presentations by Rampersad and Antiguan writers and performers, including writers as Joy Lawrence, Joanne Hillhouse and Floree Williams with support from the Historical and Archaeological Society of Antigua and Barbuda which operates the museum, and Best of Books, Antigua. It will feature readings and performances inspired by LiTTscapes, which represents some 100 works of some 60 writers, including the Caribbean Nobel laureates for literature, Derek Walcott and Sir Vidia Naipaul.”

She said: “LiTTributes are meant to make both the creators and our communities aware and heighten appreciation of how we may work in tandem for the benefit of our countries and our region. I am indeed humbled and buoyed at the enthusiasm being showed throughout the region and indeed the diaspora for these as already I also have interests expressed for similar LiTTributes in North American and Europe from where a considerable number of our fiction writers have functioned.

“LiTTscapes is a celebration of ourselves – small islands whose creative energies have generated enormous waves across the globe, as this LiTTribute to the Antilles will endorse. Antigua has given us writers like Jamaica Kincaid and Joanne Hillhouse. Derek Walcott titled his acceptance speech for the Nobel Prize, The Antilles – Fragments of Epic Memory. This event is a celebration of that epic Antilles, not as fragments, but for the wholeness of our aesthetics,” said Rampersad.

Rampersad said along similar lines of the LiTTscapes celebrations, the Antigua/Barbuda event will feature the Caribbean architectural alongside literary, visual and performance heritage. Its staging at the museum building will recognise Antigua’s oldest heritage building which is the former site of an indigeneous marketplace. Previous events were staged at the historic Moray House in Guyana, Knowsley Building in Port of Spain and White Hall, one of Port of Spain’s Magnificent Seven edifices.

LiTTscapes: Key Features

Full colour, easy reading, coffee table-style
More than 500 photographs of Trinidad and Tobago
Represents some 100 works by more than 60 writers
Captures intimate real life and fictional details of island life
Details exciting literary moments, literary heritage walks & tours
Essential companion on T&T for tourists, students, policy makers, academics, lay readers
Totally local effort to stimulate local creative industries
Encourage literacy and creative activity

LiTTscapes album on Facebook: www.facebook.com/kris.rampersad1.

About the Author – Kris Rampersad

For more than two decades Dr Kris Rampersad has been actively involved in analysing, assessing, critiquing and defining the development agenda for Caribbean societies. She is a journalist and educator in Caribbean literature, culture and heritage.

For details and information, reviews, interviews email lolleaves@gmail.com or visit www.kris-rampersad.blogspot.com.

T&T author, Antigua icons in LiTTribute to Antilles ~ Caribbean Entertainment Magazine

http://www.caribbeanemagazine.com/2013/03/t-author-antigua-icons-in-littribute-to.html

T&T AUTHOR, ANTIGUA ICONS IN LITTRIBUTE TO ANTILLES

12:30 PM Caribbean E-Magazine No comments

Trinidad and Tobago’sDR Kris Rampersad, author of LiTTscapes – Landscapes of Fiction from Trinidad and Tobago will team up with icons of Antigua and Barbuda to stage a literary tribute to the Antilles on Saturday (March 23, 2013) at the museum in St John’s, Antigua.

Dr Rampersad, whose book, LiTTscapes, was launched as part of the golden jubilee celebrations of Trinidad and Tobago last August, has undertaken a series of tributes calledLiTTributes to highlight the contributions and value of the creative sectors of the Caribbean.

LiTTscapes has been described as a groundbreakingencyclopaedic yet coffee-table style compendium of the lifestyles, landscapes, architecture, cultures, festivals and institutions of the Caribbean and quintessential to the Caribbean diversification agenda as a means of promoting sustainable development through the creative sector in its presentation of history, politics, cultures and lifestyles, by reviewers as head of the Guyana Prize for Literature and deputy vice chancellor of the University of Guyana, Professor Al Creighton; Poet Laureate of Port of Spain,PearlEintou Springer; former principal and pro vice-chancellor of the University of the West Indies, Dr Bhoe Tewarie and former First Lady of Trinidad and Tobago DrJean Ramjohn Richards, among others.

“The Antiguan event is being called LiTTribute to the Antilles and will include presentations by Rampersad and Antiguan writers and performers, including writers as Joy Lawrence, Joanne Hillhouse and Floree Williams with support from the Historical and Archaeological Society of Antigua and Barbuda which operates the museum, and Best of Books, Antigua. It will feature readings and performances inspired by LiTTscapes, which represents some 100 works of some 60 writers, including the Caribbean Nobel laureates for literature, Derek Walcott and Sir Vidia Naipaul.”

For details and information, reviews, interviews email or visit Website

In Brief:

LiTTscapes: Key Features

· Full colour, easy reading, coffee table-style

· More than 500 photographs of Trinidad and Tobago

· Represents some 100 works by more than 60 writers

· Captures intimate real life and fictional details of island life

· Details exciting literary moments, literary heritage walks & tours

· Essential companion on T&T for tourists, students, policy makers, academics, lay readers

· Totally local effort to stimulate local creative industries

· Encourage literacy and creative activity

See: LiTTscapes album on Facebook:

About the author – Kris Rampersad

For more than two decades Dr Kris Rampersad has been actively involved in analysing, assessing, critiquing and defining the development agenda for Caribbean societies.

She is a journalist and educator in Caribbean literature, culture and heritage.

Posted in: DR Kris Rampersad,LiTTscapes – Landscapes,Novels and Books,Trinidad and Tobago: Entertainment

Sunday, March 17, 2013

LiTTscapes author to celebrate the Antilles in Antigua

365antigua.com - what 2 know, where 2 go in Antigua

ARTS - Literature - LiTTscapes author to celebrate the Antilles in Antigua

LiTTscapes author to celebrate the Antilles in Antigua

http://www.365antigua.com.google.com/site/krisrampersadglobal//cms/content/arts-literature-littscapes-author-celebrate-antilles-antigua#.UUY2pL2uN7Q.blogger

The creativity of the islands of the Antilles will come into focus with LiTTribute to the AnTTiles to be staged at the Museum of Antigua and Barbuda on March 23, 2013.
This is the third in a series of tributes to the creative heritage of the Caribbean to be staged by author of LiTTscapes – Landscapes of Fiction from Trinidad and Tobago Kris Rampersad.
Rampersad will team up with Antiguan writers and performers, the Historical and Archaeological Society of Antigua and Barbuda which operates the museum, and Best of Books, Antigua for the event which will feature readings and performances inspired by LiTTscapes with input from artists in the oral and literary heritage of Antigua.
It follows the recent successful staging of LiTTribute II – LiTTurgy to the Mainland hosted by the Guyana Prize for Literature and Moray House Trust in Georgetown, Guyana and the LiTTribute to the Republic on Trinidad and Tobago’s 36^th anniversary as a Republic. LiTTscapes was launched as part of Trinidad and Tobago’s golden jubilee of Independence festivities in August 2012 along with LiTTours and LiTTevents.

“LiTTscapes is a celebration of ourselves – small islands whose creative energies have generated enormous waves across the globe, as this LiTTribute to the Antilles will endorse. Antigua has given us writers like Jamaica Kincaid and Joanne Hillhouse. Derek Walcott titled his acceptance speech for the Nobel Prize, The Antilles – Fragments of Epic Memory. This event is a celebration of that epic Antilles, not as fragments, but for the wholeness of our aesthetics,” said Rampersad.

Acclaimed as a groundbreaking encyclopaedic yet coffee-table style compendium of the lifestyles, landscapes, architecture, cultures, festivals and institutions of the Caribbean as represented in more than 100 fictional works by some 60 writers, LiTTscapes, she explained, is geared to stimulate interest in reading, literacy and connect the Caribbean through synergies with the creative industries and sectors of the Caribbean.
Rampersad said along similar lines of the LiTTscapes celebrations, the Antigua/Barbuda event will feature the Caribbean architectural alongside literary, visual and performance heritage. Its staging at the museum building will recognise Antigua’s oldest heritage building which is the former site of an indigeneous marketplace. Previous events were staged at the historic Moray House in Guyana, Knowsley Building in Port of Spain and White Hall, one of Port of Spain’s Magnificent Seven edifices.
For details, preorders, reviews, interviews email lolleaves@gmail.com or visit kris-rampersad.blogspot.com.

In Brief:

LiTTscapes: Key Features
Full colour, easy reading, coffee table-style
More than 500 photographs of Trinidad and Tobago
Represents some 100 works by more than 60 writers
Captures intimate real life and fictional details of island life
Details exciting literary moments, literary heritage walks & tours
Essential companion on T&T for tourists, students, policy makers, academics, lay readers
Totally local effort to stimulate local creative industries
Encourage literacy and creative activity

See: LiTTscapes album on Facebook

About the Author – Kris Rampersad
For more than two decades Dr Kris Rampersad has been actively involved in analysing, assessing, critiquing and defining the development agenda for Caribbean societies.
She is a journalist and educator in Caribbean literature, culture and heritage.
See: https://sites.google.com/site/krisrampersadglobal; http://kris-rampersad.blogspot.com